Furniture bank reopens for refugees and formerly homeless

Jacobs Ajimacouldn't wait for his kids to come home so they could see the new look of their living room.

"I'm sure there's going to be the 'oohs' and the 'aahs'," laughed Ajima, who is settling into his downtown Windsor apartmentwith his wife and three kids.

• Designed to help refugees, popular Windsor Furniture Bank shuts its doors

The Ajimafamily moved to Windsor from Nigera this summer and spent Thursday morning rearranging their living room with items from the recently reopened furniture bank.

"It's a bit comfortable now, thanks to Matthew House."

Purchasing items with provided gift cards

The furniture bank is an inventory of donated household items that organizationshelping newcomers, refugees and formerly homeless people can access to help their clients.

"We're working hard to provide housing for people at Habitat for Humanityand we want to make sure we set them up for housing success," said Fiona Coughlin, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex.

The former furniture bank closed after the City of Windsor sold the building where the items were held.

The new furniture bank will be facilitated by ReStore, where clients would purchase items with gift cards provided by the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborate and the Matthew House.

'Restoration of their dignity'

"Refugee claimantswho come to Windsor-Essex have been stripped of all of their dignity," saidMike Morency, executive director of the MatthewHouseRefugee Welcome Centre.

"Really it's about supporting a restoration of their dignity and supporting them, developing independence where they can thrive in their community."

Watch Jacobs Ajima describe life in Windsor:

Nigerian family enjoying new life in Windsor

6 years ago

Duration 0:54

Jacobs Ajima describes what life has been like in Windsor since moving here this summer.

The re-opening of the furniture bank was made possible by a$75,000 seed grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

For the Ajima family, it meant a chance to speed up their settling in process by freeing up money for other items.

'Fulfilling joy'

Sitting on a chair from his new dining room table set, Ajimasaid he's most looking forward to when he'll be able to help another refugee family into their new home.

"Oh I mean that would be, it's going to be a fulfilling joy. There will be contentment that I was there for someone."